Ratchet wrench



Dec. 3, 1968 F. J. TEICHMEIER RATCHET WRENCH 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed March 20, 1967 MSW a n nnR \\N INVENTOR FRANKLIN J. TEICHMEIER Dec. 3, 1968 F. J. TEICHMEIER 3,413,877

RATCHET WRENCH Filed March 20, 1967 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR FRANKLIN Jv TEICHMEIER United States Patent 3,413,877 RATCHET WRENCH Franklin J. Teichmeier, Ravenna, Nebr. 68869 Filed Mar. 20, 1967, Ser. No. 624,443 4 Claims. (CI. 8154) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Field 0 the invention This invention is in the field of remote control ratchet wrenches.

Description of the prior art The remote control ratchet wrenches heretofore have required an excessive amount of space in which the rearward end of their levers must swing away from the body in order to achieve a ratcheting.

Summary of the invention A remote control ratchet wrench identifiable as a remote control ratchet wrench by itsuse of a thrust rod of a substantial length with respect to the length of the handle and in which a minimal amount of spacing of the rearward end of the lever from the body of the wrench is needed for ratcheting because of the new provision of initiating outward swinging of the lever from a position in which the majority of the lever is disposed within the body of the wrench itself.

The wrench described in which the leverage applied to the thrust rod by the control lever is variable by selective position of the rearward end of the thrust rod with respect to the pivot point of the lever.

The wrench described further having a latch for holding the lever in storage position in which that part of the latch which engages the lever is dis-posed within a latch cavity in the'handle.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a top plan view of the wrench of this invention, with dotted lines showing maximum outer position of an operating lever thereof, other dotted lines showing the operating position of a storage latch handle and of a leverage regulating handle.

FIGURE 2 is a forward end view of the wrench of FIGURE 1 as seen from the right hand side in FIG- URE 1.

FIGURE 3 is a top plan view of the wrench of FIG- URE 1, but with its upper cover removed.

FIGURE 4 is a view similar to FIGURE 3 but showing the operating lever in an outer position and the thrust rod on the inner notch.

FIGURE 5 shows the operating lever in an outermost position at a time when the wrench is adjusted for the reception of the thrust rod in the notch of maximum speed operation, but of lesser leverage.

The ratchet wrench of this invention comprises an elongated body generally indicated at 10, as best seen in FIGURES 1 and 3.

The body 10 has a forward end 12, and a rearward end 14. The body 10 has a cavity 20 disposed between two oppositely disposed spaced walls 28.

A return spring 48 is located in the cavity 20 and is attached at one end to the thrust rod 40 by means of a hook 50 and is attached at its other end to the body 10 by means of a hook 50. At the forward end of the body 10 is a ratchet rotor 60 which has teeth 62 surrounding its circumference, only a part of which is shown in the drawings as the rotor is partially diagrammatically illustrated.

The rotor 60 is rotatably mounted on the body 14 in a manner for rotating about an axis 64 transverse to the elongation of the body 10.

The forward end of the thrust rod 40 has teeth engageable with the teeth 62 of the rotor, the teeth of the body being disposed on the rotor side of the rod 40.

The spring 48 urges the teeth 70 into engagement with the teeth 62 of the rotor.

A lever is disposed in the body with the forward end 82 of the lever pivotally attached to the body by a pin 86.

The rearward end 88 of the lever is disposed adjacent the rearward end of the body 10. The lever 80 is swingable about its pivot pin 86 so that its rearward end 88 can swing out from the body on one side thereof and can be manually pressed toward the body for initiating a wrench action. The lever 80 and the thrust rod 40 are operatively correlated with the pressing of the thrust rod 40 forwardly to rotate the rotor at times when the rearward end of the lever 80 is moved toward the rearward end of the body 10. This is accomplished by the provision of a notch 90 in the lever 80 in a position for receiving a rearward end 92 of the rod 40 so that the rod 40 is urged forwardly when the lever 80 is pulled in. An urging assembly generally indicated at has an arm 102 pivotally attached to the body at 106 having the arm 102 lying alongside the rod 40 at its rearward end and on the same side thereof as the teeth 70, the arm 102 being urged so as not to move toward an adjacent side 110 of the body by means of a lock 112 which is attached pivotally to the body by means of a pin 114, the lock 112 being swung about a pin 114 by means of a manual control lever 120, best seen in FIGURE 1, which is disposed on the outer side of the housing 10, the latter also can be called the body 10. When the lock is in the position shown in FIGURE 3 the rearward end 92 of the thrust bar 40 will be disposed in the notch 90 at times when the lever 80 is in general alignment with the body 10.

However, when the lever is swung into a dotted line position, shown in FIGURE 1, then the lock 112 will be disposed in the position shown in FIGURE 4 for urging the arm 102 inwardly into a position for pressing the thrust rod 40 into engagement with a second not-ch in a forward side of the lever 80.

The wrench further has a pawl assembly, generally indicated at 140, including pawl 144, which is urged by spring 146 into engagement with the teeth 62 for permitting the rotor 60 to turn only in the direction indicated by the arrow 150. In other words, only in the direction in which the rotor is urged upon forward motion of the thrust rod 40.

As best seen in FIGURE 5, outward swinging motion of the lever 80 away from the body 10 is limited b limit means 160 comprising a shoulder 162 on the forward edge of the lever 80 disposed in the position for engaging an abutment 164 of the body so that when the rearward end of the lever is in a position outermost from the body a manual gripping around the rearward end of the body and around the outer side of the lever can be conveniently achieved even adjacent that rear-most end of the lever which is outermost from the wrench.

As best seen in FIGURE 3, at times when the rearward end 88 of the lever is in an innermost position then the majority of the lever is disposed within the body 10. As best seen in FIGURES 3 and 4, a swinging latch 180 is attached to the body by a pivot pin 182 to which it is fixed, the latch 180 being rotatable at times when the pin 182 is rotated, whereby the latch 180 can be swung from a storage position shown in full lines in FIGURE 3, outwardly in the direction of an arrow 186, until it is in a released position such as shown in FIGURES 4 or 5.

The swinging of the lever 80 is accomplished by a control member 190 disposed on the outside of the body 10 and fixed to the pin 182.

The latch 180 is adapted to engage a point 198 on the forward side of the lever 80 at times when the lever 80 is in an innermost position whereby the lever 80 is held in this innermost position for purposes of storage.

In operation it will be seen that allowing the lever 80 to move back and forth between the dotted line position, shown in FIGURE 1, and the full line position shown in FIGURE 3, will cause the rotor to rotate in the direction of the arrow 150. As the rotor can be provided with a central opening 200 for receiving an element to be turned with the wrench, it can be seen that a most effective tool is provided, particularly because the elongation of the handle 10 causes the forward end of the wrench to be disposable deep into a confined area of the machine, and yet rotation can be accomplished because the movement of the handle or lever 60 is done at a place remote from the forward end of the wrench and, therefore, in an area of the machine which is more open and less obstructed.

The wrench body 10 further has side walls 210 and 212 which are much lesser width than the spaced larger walls 28. A forward wall 212 also being provided and the wall 28 being secured together by means of bolts 216, as best seen in FIGURE 1.

The limit means 161 with its shoulder 162 engaging the abutment 164 is so positioned that the rearward end of the lever 80 will not move forwardly of a position normal to the elongation of the wrench body 10.

It will be seen that the thrust rod is sufliciently long to occupy a substantial part of the length of the body for disposing the forward end of the lever in a position sufiiciently remote from the ratchet rotor as to make pos sible effective remote control ratcheting.

It can be further seen that the thrust rod is of a length at least substantially as long as the lever for defining a very high degree of remote control ratcheting.

In operation it will be seen that a very small amount of movement of the lever with respect to the handle is necessary to achieve ratcheting. This is achieved because the lever starts from a beginning position which is lapping with respect to the handle.

As thus described it is believed that this invention has provided an unusually effective ratchet wrench capable of providing high wrenching power in confined spaced.

From the foregoing description, it is thought to be obvious that a ratchet wrench constructed in accordance with my invention is particularly well adapted for use, by reason of the convenience and facility with which it may be assembled and operated, and it will also be obvious that my invention can be changed and modified without departing from the principles and spirit thereof, and for this reason, I do not wish to be understood as limiting myself to the precise arrangement and formation of the several parts herein shown in carrying out my invention in practice, except as claimed.

I claim:

1. A ratchet wrench comprising an elongated body, said body having a forward end and a rearward end, said body having a cavity disposed between two oppositely disposed spaced walls, an elongated thrust rod of a length less than said body, a toothed ratchet rotor rotatably mounted on said forward end of said body for rotating about an axis transverse to the elongation of said body, a work engaging means formed on said rotor, the forward end of said thrust rod having teeth engageable with the teeth of said rotor, a spring means urging the thrust rod in a rearwardly direction, said spring means also urging the teeth of said thrust rod means into engagement with the teeth of said rotor, a lever disposed in said body with a forward end thereof pivotally attached to said body, a rearward portion of said lever being disposed closely adjacent the rearward end of said body, said lever being swingable about its pivot so that its rearward end can swing out from said body on one side thereof and can be manually pressed toward said body for initiating a wrench action, said lever and said thrust rod being operatively correlated for the pressing of said thrust rod forwardly to rotate said rotor at times when said rearward end of said lever is moved toward the rearward end of said body, and a pawl means engaging said teeth for permitting rotation of said rotor only in the direction in which said rotor is urged upon forward motion of said thrust rod, and means on said body and lever for limiting the swinging motion of said lever so that when the rearward end of said lever is in a position outermost from said body a manual gripping around the rearward end of said body and around the outer side of said lever can be conveniently achieved even adjacent the rearwardmost end of said lever, said body having a lever recess therein, the majority of said lever being storable within said lever recess at times when said thrust rod is in a forward position whereby a ratcheting can be achieved b moving the rearward end of said lever a minimal distance with respect to said body for facilitating operation in tight places, said thrust rod being sufliciently long to occupy a substantial part of the length of said body for disposing the forward end of said lever in a position sufficiently remote from said ratchet rotor as to make possible effective remote control ratcheting.

2. The combination of claim 1 in which said means for causing said rearward end of said thrust rod to move away from said rotor when the rearward end of said lever is moved out away from said body comprises a return spring disposed in said cavity, means operatively correlating said return spring and said body and said thrust rod whereby said return spring urges said thrust rod means toward the rearward end of said body, said rearward end of said thrust rod being free of any direct connection with said lever, means attached to said body and engageable with the rearward end of said thrust rod for holding the rearward end of said thrust rod in a position of engagement with the forward end of said lever, and said lever has two notches therein in positions engageable with the rearward end of said rod, and in which said means holding the rearward end of said rod in a position of engagement with said lever comprises a manually movable control member accessible from the outside of said body, and means correlated with said control lever for urging said rod into engagement with a selected one of said notches depending upon the position of said control member, the position of said notches being such that one of said notches is disposed closer and one farther from the pivot axis of said lever, said notches being disposed respectively for causing each complete swinging motion of said lever to cause a forward pushing of said rod of a sufiicient rod travel distance for the turning of said rotor a greater or lesser distance.

3. The combination of claim 1 in which said body has a swinging latch cavity therein, and in which a swinging latch is disposed in said swinging latch cavity and is pivotally connected to said body, said latch having an attached control means disposed outside of said body, said latch being releasably engageable with said lever at a point within said latch cavity of said body so that when said latch is so engaged said lever is maintained in a storage position with respect to said body.

4. The combination of claim 1 in which said thrust rod is substantially as long as said lever.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,204,095 11/1916 Wallen 81-581 2,471,194 5/1949 Capps 8158.1X

6 2,704,475 3/1955 Shuman 8161 2,817,257 12/1957 Kniser 81-58.1 2,954,715 10/1960 Wycech 81-58.1

FOREIGN PATENTS 498,738 12/1953 Canada.

JAMES L. JONES, JR., Primary Examiner. 

